Don't fall asleep in the tattoo parlor. Don't rely on a verbal description of the tattoo you want when you are speaking a foreign language. Don't get tattoos when you are a teenager. Don't get tattoos on your face. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don't.....

And now a word from the tattoist:

Yikes! I know what you're thinking. Don't let anyone who looks like that do anything to your face. But wait. Listen to him:

"She was awake and looked into the mirror several times as the procedure was taking place... The trouble all started when she went home and her father and boyfriend threw a fit... They are saying things now like I doped her or hypnotised her. What rubbish. She asked for 56 stars and that's what she got."

This is a lawsuit, people.

The girl, Kimberley Vlaeminck is suing the small businessman, Rouslan Toumaniant. Who do you think is telling the truth?

145 comments:

It's not like she wouldn't NOTICE he's adding 53 stars too many. You do feel something when getting tattooed and, well, the time it took to do it would be markedly longer for, roughly, 18 times more stars than you initially asked for.

Having been recently acquainted with a relative who (for some reason that escapes me) got a particularly large and intricate tattoo, I find it difficult to believe that one could fall asleep naturally during the procedure. I've never had it done myself, but had it described as continually poking a severe sunburn with a sharp needle.

She's lying. There's no way one could fall asleep while having one's face tattooed, particularly for as long as it would take to have 56 stars done. As the tattooist asserts, once her father and boyfriend objected, she had to assign blame away from herself.

The tattoo artist could, however, have avoided any dispute had he followed the rule that I have heard other tattooists recite: they will not tattoo anyone's hands, feet or faces unless they know them, or unless the client is already so heavily tattooed over their body that he or she already has experienced what living with a marked body entails.

I think I read in one account that a witness corroborated the tattooist's account. Having said that, he was a fool not to have a permission form on hand to cover this sort of situation. Were I a tattoo artist (all the gods forbid) I wouldn't do any work on someone's face without a signed and witnessed disclaimer form. He's said as much, himself.

As for the girl, I wonder if you connected the stars, would they spell out dumbass?

Around 535 AD, a massive volcanic eruption blew Java-Sumatra into two separate islands. Krakatoa's long muffled explosion was heard far away, in Nanking. Soon, and all over the world, the sun began to go dark, the rain poured red, and yellow dust fell like snow.

The ensuing cold, drought, floods, famine, plague, and death ushered in the fall of Rome and the Dark Ages. Years later, a Chinese bureaucrat lamented these horrors in a poem, asking, "How could God have been so drunk?"

When God gets a tattoo, the face of the world changes, and everything is lost but translation.

Somebody needs to tell these people that Tatoos are all ugly defacements of human beauty. Why does culture today honor this sick pagan practice? Tell the down and outers to deface public walls with graffiti if they need to create uglyness around them. That can be painted over.

I find it difficult to believe that one could fall asleep naturally during the procedure. I've never had it done myself, but had it described as continually poking a severe sunburn with a sharp needle.

Not quite that bad although it depends on where you have it. The ones I have on my shoulders didn’t hurt at all that bad. The ones on my back, particularly the one on the middle hurt like a sonofabitch.

The best advice -- was it from Brian Setzer, lead singer of the Stray Cats? -- re: tattoos: Never get one that you can't cover up with a nice dress shirt if you have to stand in front of a judge.

Or a job interview. Good advice though. My rule has always been when deciding on a new one is to hang a picture of the design I want on my monitor at work that way I see it every day. If I still like the look 4 months later then I'll get it.

Once you start putting them on your face and neck or get sleeves, you're pretty much confining your career to being a barista at Starbucks or working at Barnes and Noble.

I think the stars look kind of cool. The artist (oh, why did you have to show him to me?) placed them beautifully. I'd love to go to a Fourth of July picnic with those stars...as long as I could wash them off after.

The tatoo trend has stuck around lot longer than I ever thought it was. Took my kids to the pool the other day and so many people have them. It still surprises me when I see some kids parents with tramp stamps or piercings.

The tattoo tide is just starting to turn. Due to illness I've been watching a lot of late night cable TV junk. Amongst the Sham-wow, get rich through real estate, and male 'enhancement' rip-off commercials there is one now for 'easy' tattoo removal. Just slap on some magic oil or unguent for 3-4 for weeks and that unsightly Tasmanian devil on your neck will disappear. I think we can expect see more of these 'easy-off' commercials in the future. This is just the first indicator of a lot of people who regret their ink jobs. Plastic surgeons who specialize in laser removal will be making a mint in the coming years. The armed forces ,in particular the Marines and Army, will not recruit anyone with unsightly tats. Those having them now are grandfathered.

And when Rip Van Winkle finally woke up twenty years later, he rubbed his eyes and saw that he was covered in tattoos from head to toe. But little did he know that fashions in the glen had changed dramatically from earlier times.

No longer were skulls and dragons and fire and buxom babes the pride of men and ladies alike, but instead the text from favorite quotes, long speeches, and even entire books were preferred. Oddly, all were done in Comic Sans font.

Starting on his forehead, and cascading to his toes, were inscribed in multicolor hues the The Beatles biography, complete with song lyrics.

Only on discovering where the footnotes were placed did his senses become overpowered, and soon he was tempted to repeat the draught; and though he reiterated his visits to the flagon often, he quaffed the liquor in profound silence.

Someone who would deface themselves in such a manner must have some deep seated emotional issues. Of course, they are not considered issues when the government pays for your health care.. It makes you wonder what she's got elsewhere....

I am fascinated by the whole tattoo thing--in 25 or 30 years there will be a whole clutch of grandmas who gather their grandchildren at their knees only to hear them say: "Great tatts, granny."

As a teenager, my daughter wanted to get a tattoo or a piercing on her nose.

I said to her.."Just imagine how that is going to look when your skin is all saggy and baggy like Mrs. XXX(the ancient lady next door who looked like a reconstituted mummy). The tattoo will be all smeared and wrinkled and the hole in your nose will be gigantic. Just look at her pores!! You'll probably have to use Q-tips to clean the crusted boogers out of it. But go ahead if you want to. Just remember I'M not paying for it either."

End of conversations was her going ...."Ewwwwwww." No tattoo or piercing.

I can understand just tiny, tiny bit why religious fanatics want to see many of us put against a wall and shot - seriously, I do not regard myself as being prejudicial but I must say, I would probably be looking for a pistol upon seeing that freakish guy

The articles in the British press suggest that the tatoo parlor is in Courtrai, Belgium, as are apparently all the players. So there's no call to look at this through an Obama-centric prism.

Ann wishes this suit a quick and well deserved end. But, in essence, it's just a breach of contract claim -- she says she ordered three stars and got 56 instead. He says she got what she ordered. The contract was apparently entirely oral. Sounds routine to me, despite the odd-ball setting. I assume that the legal drama is playing out in a Belgian court, but don't know offhand whether the Belgian civil code adopts a 'loser pays' principle for litigation costs, as in the UK and elsewhere in the EU. If it does, that's likely to bring it all to a swift end.

An interesting question would be whether the tatoo guy's appearance was itself enough to amount to a disclaimer of all warranties, express or implied. Such disclaimers themselves normally have to be both express and in a form calling them to the attention of the consumer-customer. The case calls out for a Cardozo to shed light where only darkness now reigns.

My first few months of residency were in a medical examiner's office and one of the things I did was to an external exam on bodies waiting to be autopsied - look for identifying marks like scar, tattoos, needle tracks. So, tattoos kind of remind me of that experience. Kind of a negative connotation, you might say.

Also, you can see the tattoo ink within macrophages in lymph nodes, and if you are looking for melanoma (a type of skin cancer) tumor cells in a biopsied node, you could have trouble, because you could potentially confuse the melanin pigment with the tattoo pigment. Well, not easily, if you are experienced. The pigment looks different, and of course, melanin would not be red or blue.

People who object so violently to tattoos in general weird me out. No one is asking you to get a tattoo, so why the hell do you care what anyone else does?

Getting a small discrete tattoo is one thing. Getting your face and body disfigured permanently as the examples in this article is completely another.

Making such a radical irrevocable decision is indicative of a person who hasn't mastered long term thinking, planning or any logical realization of the consequences of their actions. These are not stable or rational personalities. As such, if I were looking to hire for a position, the heavily tattooed person already has several strikes against them. If I were to see a monstrosity like the tattoo artist on the street, I would most certainly make my move to avoid that person at all costs, since it is obvious that they are not stable, normal, rational individuals. The only good thing is that they have advertised themselves as such and it makes it easier to figure it out.

So, Summer...do what you want: but be prepared to face the consequences. I won't hire you. I won't socialize with you. I won't trust you.

You have literally, painted yourself into a corner. I hope you like it.

@Dust Bunny, I wish you hadn't posted that. I'm sure that even now there is some liberal has read your post and is scrambling to add "or body art" to the list of things one cannot discriminate against.

@Freeman, if I was to counsel the father, I'd suggest forcing the daughter to wait 3 or so years before shelling out to have the tatts removed. Too many young people have trouble grasping the concept of "think before you do" thanks to parents who unfailingly bail them out for their mistakes.

Ralph!! I assure you the pistol would not be drawn, my hand would be on it as I backed away quickly - I tell you those ring-things in his mouth have me wondering if might want to put people in a stew pot. There are much sharper pencils in this bin who can elucidate on the 2cd Amendment better than I so I won't.

But, full disclosure. I do have one: it's the word "heart." on my wrist and it's about two inches long. it's the mark of a friendship that saved my life.

I'm sure people who have "extreme" tattoos don't care if someone as close-minded as you seem to be want to "socialize" with them anyway, so it's a win-win for both sides. As for jobs, that is indeed something that people have to consider. But not everyone needs someone like you to hire them in order to be successful. One of my best friends works for a very successful arborist who has tattoos on his face and about fifteen employees.

As for onparkstreet's example of people who are "weirded out" by tattoos and "don't want to have to look at them", you've made my point. Why would anyone be so moved by the aesthetic decision of a stranger on the street? Get over your phobia or whatever it is and let live.

The world has plenty of room for all kinds of people, including those who want to get their faces painted, and those who want to get botox injected in their cheeks, and those who want to walk around naked with each other, and those who want to dye their hair pink, and those who just want to be totally normal. I jut wish that the latter could leave the others alone.

You're awfully thin-skinned for someone who is all 'live and let live', Summer Anne. All I said is that some people don't like the way tattoos look, and, therefore, are weirded out by them. They are entitled to think that, it's a free country. What's the big deal? I don't understand why your emotion response to people who don't like tattoos is somehow superior to other people's emotional responses to tattoos? You do realize you are doing the exact same thing?

do what you want: but be prepared to face the consequences. I won't hire you. I won't socialize with you. I won't trust you..

DBQ, what if I get one of a Tauren warrior named Goomba? Does that get me a waiver? ;-)

I can understand though the attitudes about tattoos. I mean I have several but I'm not covered either and none are visible unless I'm shirtless. It's the extremes like the ones who get their faces marked up or have more metal than skin on them that I think are what people think when they hear tattoos.

"The armed forces ,in particular the Marines and Army, will not recruit anyone with unsightly tats. Those having them now are grandfathered.Source? I know several servicemen who have full sleeves."

I read something along those lines a while back, but I thought that part of the definition of "unsightly" was that it was actually visible when wearing a long-sleeve shirt. So the full sleeves might not be an issue if they don't go far enough down on the wrist to be visible under dress uniform...

Dude, onparkstreet, your original comment was in response to my phrasing "violently object to tattoos." The phrase "violently object" brings to mind more -- to me -- than simply not liking it and moving on with your life. This is apparently mostly a semantics argument?

Though I disagree that hating on people for making a personal aesthetic choice is "the same thing" as thinking the haters are being close-minded and shallow.

The American, twenty, maybe twenty-one, is tattoo'd like a Maori warrior. He wears numerous metal loops, affixed to nose and ears and eyebrows, like a junk drawer full of washers, Chinese coins, and old keyrings.

He was raised in Iowa, having traveled no further than Chicago for a ballgame, but affects the world-weary pose of post-adolescent angst, the nihilist in Goth boots, the ex-communicant who has never taken communion at all.

He serves coffee or clerks at Hot Topic, if he must work at all. He's BORED, all caps. He makes me think There but for the grace of dog go I, knowing how easily he might have rejected such accoutrements, had he merely a lab or a setter nearby.

Richard Dolan: The articles in the British press suggest that the tatoo parlor is in Courtrai, Belgium, as are apparently all the players. So there's no call to look at this through an Obama-centric prism.

Umm... maybe you didn't get the memo - Obama is "sort of God". There are no national boundaries in the realm of transnational progressivism.

Therefore, this is his fault. Where is his tattoo czar? Who will oversee the over- or under-application of ink to the faces of the world?

Kimberley Vlaeminck will be the topic of an urban legends story 10 years from now that ends "Yes, this really happened! Yes, she really was that stupid. But she was a Belgian!"

My advice, she IS a good-looking young woman. Reinvent herself. Have 5 stars removed. Come to America and try to become the next Octomom celebrity and say you love America so much you had stars for all 50 states, plus one for Israel or Puerto Rico - depending on your audience or who might hire her for a "reality show.".She can probably make a living. A very good living.

I'd just like to say that, when you are bored and decide to tattoo yourself, don't tattoo your wife's name on your forearm and then get divorced and marry my sister and roll up your sleeves for the wedding pictures. Ah, yes, my family has stories about my sister's ex. Mostly, he was a good guy who didn't do well with drinking...or wives...

Dutch, the background action on that photo of your grandma is priceless.

I also heard the military is prohibiting tatts that can't be covered, by short sleeves, IIRC. Within the last year?

I guess you have to be over 40 to fully appreciate unblemished skin.

Onparkstreet, when I got melanoma in 1991, a flat dark mole turned into a pink and dark lump and bled a little. I actually felt it before I saw it. In a hot tub on a ski trip.If a (female) doctor hadn't freaked over my large number of moles several years before, I'd be long dead by now.

True. But doesn't that include room for people who express distaste for tattoos? You're not going to change the minds of those who find tattoos unaesthetic by calling them close minded and phobic. You're not going to change their minds period, no matter what you call them. Ever hear of freedom? The freedom to differ. I'm sure someone as tolerant as you are can come to terms with others right to dislike the tattoos that you like and are free to cover yourself with.

True. But doesn't that include room for people who express distaste for tattoos? You're not going to change the minds of those who find tattoos unaesthetic by calling them close minded and phobic. You're not going to change their minds period, no matter what you call them. Ever hear of freedom? The freedom to differ. I'm sure someone as tolerant as you are can come to terms with others right to dislike the tattoos that you like and are free to cover yourself with.

I don't expect to change anyone's mind. Just stating my own opinion. And yes, I get it, they're staring theirs. This could go on forever, and it could apply to any argument people have, ever. Yes, they're entitled to their opinion, just like I'm entitled to mine that it's stupid to care about other people's tattoos so much, and just like tattooed people are entitled to get tattoos. La-de-da.

"My first few months of residency were in a medical examiner's office and one of the things I did was to an external exam on bodies waiting to be autopsied - look for identifying marks like scar, tattoos, needle tracks. So, tattoos kind of remind me of that experience. Kind of a negative connotation, you might say."

@Summer. I don't violently object to tattoos or folks like Hoosier who have tattoos that are either modest or can be covered by clothing. Many men in the military for generations have gotten tattooed as a rite of passage. My ex husband had tattoos on both of his forearms and upper left back shoulder. My son in law has some small tattooing on his ankles which isn't visible unless he is wearing shorts.

What I was referring to, plainly, in my response was to the type of whole body tattooing and defacement like the two people in this article we are discussing.

It isn't an emotional reaction either. I'm a very logical person and my reaction to people who do this extreme body tattooing and mutilation of their faces is that there is something distinctly WRONG psychologically with them. As such...I avoid people who mumble to themselves in public, urinate on themselves and who have voluntarilly turned themselves into a circus freak show.

I'm sure people who have "extreme" tattoos don't care if someone as close-minded as you seem to be want to "socialize" with them anyway, so it's a win-win for both sides. As for jobs, that is indeed something that people have to consider. But not everyone needs someone like you to hire them in order to be successful. One of my best friends works for a very successful arborist who has tattoos on his face and about fifteen employees.

Fine with me. I'm not interested in socializing with a lot of people for various reasons. My feelings won't be hurt.

As to jobs. Young people have a hard time thinking ahead and to permanenly "paint" yourself out of the ability to earn a living in certain occupations in the future by deliberately mutulating yourself is the sign of a not clear thinking person at all.

My husband tried to hire a guy as a helper, who had done some time in prison and who, while reformed now, was sporting some pretty awesome gang tattoos on his neck and face not to mention all over his body. Guess, what. The clients of my husband refused to hire the young man. Unfair? Yes. Understandable? Double yes. So, a stupid rebellious decision made as a teenager will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Right,not everyone needs someone like me to hire them for a job and I don't just hire anybody either. You don't see very many financial advisors who look like our tattoo artist and there is a reason why. If they want to spend the rest of their lives as menial laborers and eschew any professional occupations....fine. But it isn't anybody's fault but their own.

I'm trying to remember how the Saki(?) story ends about the man who had the acknowledged masterpiece of a famous Italian tattoo artist on his back. The authorities wouldn't let him leave the country, pestered him about maintaining his weight, and waited for him to die.Anyone read it?

Somebody does need to speak the truth to Tatoo Power. Defacing human beauty is like throwing paint on a great masterpiece painting. That is vandalism. So if you like seeing birth defects like cleft palates, and you like seeing faces cut to pieces in a wreck going thru a windshield, then courageously do it to yourself and show off. It is still ugly and some one needs to say it out loud so that the weak minded youth aren't seduced into believing being tatooed makes them popular.

If I met a person with the word "heart" tattooed on their wrist, I'd wonder what was tattooed over their heart. Would it be word that directs me to another body part, like a treasure hunt? I'd ask, "How many moves until I get to the juicy bits?"

"I know what you're thinking. Don't let anyone who looks like that do anything to your face."

That's not what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that the quality of the tattoos on his face is actually pretty good, and since he's a tattoo artist, he most likely got them either from another artist who liked and respected him enough to trade work with him or from one of his other apprentices.

Both speak well of his skill.

I'd still want to see a book of his work before deciding whether to let him work on me or not, but it's a pretty good first impression.

Lars wrote:

"Crap!! I meant 2006 for the Army policy and 2007 for the Marines."

I was in the Army in 2006, and the changes in the tattooing policy made it more permissive, not less so -- tattoos on the back of the neck and hands, which had formerly been prohibited, became permissible. I don't know about the other services.

Dust Bunny Queen wrote:

"You don't see very many financial advisors who look like our tattoo artist and there is a reason why. If they want to spend the rest of their lives as menial laborers and eschew any professional occupations....fine. But it isn't anybody's fault but their own."

I'm surprised that I have to point this out, but 'our tattoo artist' is a tattoo artist and not a menial laborer. Depending on his level of skill, his clientele, and the location of the shop where he works, it's entirely possible that he's pulling down real money and living at least comfortably.

I mean, I know that your (supposedly) logical prejudice suggests that people with facial tattoos must, by necessity, be failures at life. But I've known enough tattoo artists personally to know that this isn't the case. For all I know, 'our tattoo artist' owns his own home in a modestly fashionable neighborhood and is saving money with the goal of owning his shop in five years... with enough time and money left over to indulge in expensive hobbies like collecting vintage scooters. (That's a short description of the circumstances of one of my best friends, who is also a tattoo artist, and also has tattoos on his face. He always loved tattoos, apprenticed at 17, he has been in the business for like 15 years at this point, and to the best of my knowledge he never had interest in becoming a financial advisor.)

I think the tattooist is telling the truth. She got carried away and got in touble when she went home, and is trying to blame it on the tattooist. Most tatooists want their customers to be happy.

I kinda like the stars all over the face thing, except there's a few too many. Okay, a lot too many. She got carried away. But I highly doubt the tattoo parlor put more on her face than she asked for. Believe it or not, but I have found that tattoo parlors tend to run their shops pretty professionally.

If I met a person with the word "heart" tattooed on their wrist, I'd wonder what was tattooed over their heart. Would it be word that directs me to another body part, like a treasure hunt? I'd ask, "How many moves until I get to the juicy bits?"

That sounds pretty fun. As for it's placement's real reasoning: it's my heart on my sleeve... Get it? :) Whoever joked earlier, trying to zing me again, "I've just had a life-changing event. I know! I'll go get a tatoo!" actually has it about right. It's a reminder of a time in my life I didn't want to be able to forget. It has a special meaning to me and my friend and that's pretty much the only reason I have it. I like it. I'm sure it sounds stupid to most people I don't know and that's fine with me.

For some reason, the opinions of strangers in the comments section of Ms. Althouse's blog on the coolness/prettiness/value of my tattoo don't affect me very deeply. I suspect that our tattoo artist would feel the same way about DBQ not wanting to hire him as a financial advisor. Most people who get tattoos -- whether they're little words on their wrist or crazy flames on their neck or anything in between -- are well aware of the supposed "consequences" and they don't give a care. We can probably all agree that the people who aren't aware/prepared are ignorant... C'est la vie!

Tattoing is painful. Unless she was hopped up on Morphine, there is no way she could have fallen asleep during that. Hey moron, you have needles going through your face to pattern 56 stars. How could not be awake for that? Fucking idiot. Guess your right to self express really manifested itself as a form of stupidity.

"A waitress at a restaurant I frequent has a small stud in her cheek. Not very appetizing. Freak boy will never work at food service."

I don't think that this guy went through a fairly lengthy tattoo apprenticeship and tattooed until he got to the point where he opened his own shop when he *actually* intended to become a waiter all along.

Summer Anne wrote:

"I'm sure it sounds stupid to most people I don't know and that's fine with me."

I think that it sounds stupid to far fewer people that you think. After I got a fairly visible tattoo, friends, family members, and random people in public places all started showing me their tattoos -- or at least telling me their "I chickened out at the tattoo parlor" stories.

For the most part, their reasons were the same as yours -- to commemorate some event or some period in their lives.

"I suspect that our tattoo artist would feel the same way about DBQ not wanting to hire him as a financial advisor."

This guy apparently runs his own shop. For all we know, he's the one out there hiring financial advisors, not the other way around.

I really believe the kind of stigma that is associated with tattoos will more or less disappear in the next 30-40 years... Hardly anyone my age associates tattoos -- even 'extreme' tattoos -- with the "psychologically damaged" profile that older people seem to. Many small business owners in my city are heavily tattooed. The hottest young celebrity in the world right now is covered in large tattoos. Not to mention the other one.

Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie, respectively. I have no idea what Ms. Fox's career longevity will be -- but man, aging does bad things to skin whether you have tattoos or not. It's like the grandma in the picture way above. Is it really gross because of her tattoos, or is it gross because she's a naked elderly lady whose boobs and stomach are loose, flat flaps hanging over other parts of her body? I think the latter. The tattoos actually might help distract someone from looking at the rest of her.

Does this say "When the TV cameras were turned off, Kimberley Vlaeminck then confided to the reporters how she really liked the tattoo artist's work. However, when her dad saw the result, he was "truly very furious." She told him [dad] absolutely that she doesn't remember anything at all and would rather blame the tattoo guy."